“From the moment your child is born, you become grateful for playgrounds… these spaces can be a refuge: from traffic, drunks and scary dogs… without playgrounds, you end up breastfeeding on kerbs or walls”
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian
It’s been a busy week for play (and it’s only Tuesday!). On Monday, Guardian columnist Lucy Cosslett – in her article ‘Arrogant parents and extravagant tantrums: all the world’s a stage in our precious playgrounds’ – provided an honest personal account of the safe haven fixed equipment playgrounds can be for parents/carers of young children, whilst also shining a light on some stark statistics that playworkers will unfortunately familiar with, or at least not surprised.
Some examples included:
- In England, parks budgets have fallen by £350m in the past 12 years;
- 800 playgrounds have closed in the UK in the past decade;
- Adventure playgrounds have halved since the 1980s;
- 1 in 8 UK children live in a home with no garden.
One anecdote about “wrangling a heavy, furious child” waiting for their go on the swings, particularly caught my eye:
Thankfully, most parents… will say gently to their kid, “It’s time to let the baby have a go.” There is always one, however, who lets their darling offspring hog the equipment and then affects to see right through you, your tantrumming toddler and the queue behind you”
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian
As a playworker on an adventure playground, rather than being on one parents side or another, I’m immediately reminded that (however well maintained and designed) these playgrounds are not accompanied by trained playworkers to hold the space in an informed, sensitive, and more impartial way than even parents/carers with the best of intentions.
Then, today, Sandra Laville – Environment correspondent for The Guardian, writing in her article ‘Children suffering due to lack of outdoor play, UK charities warn‘- highlighted the voice of a coalition of charities pushing the Westminster Government to recognise the damage being inflicted upon the health and wellbeing of children in England by refusing to prioritise outdoor play.
The coalition, which includes Playing Out, Wildlife and Countryside Link, and Save the Children UK, will be meeting with the Levelling-Up Housing & Communities Committee who have launched an inquiry into planning, building, and urban design in England.
The call for evidence has closed, with over 100 pieces of written evidence submitted, and the first oral evidence session is tomorrow – Wednesday 24th January 2024, from 09:45am – and can be viewed live on the parliamentlive.tv website here. Current agenda listed below:
The Playwork Foundation 